And sometimes, the weirdness doesn’t stop with questions. Amina Hassan*, 29, was presented with a list of strict rules if she wanted to move into a particular house share. “I had to sign a contract that we wouldn’t eat pork or drink alcohol in the house and that I’d be back at home for 10pm every night. In actual writing. It turned out kind of alright because I’m Muslim but it was still very weird.”

Of course, this is all indicative of something bigger: renters are being pushed into increasingly precarious circumstances by rising costs. One in seven renters was unable to afford enough food in July and were concerned about balancing their rent with food prices, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with further data showing that private rental prices are at a record high, increasing by 5% between June 2022 and June 2023.

As a result, it’s no surprise that many of us are facing more hurdles when it comes to finding a new home. Renting alone has become an unaffordable option for many people in recent years, which means more of us are now turning to house shares. In July 2022, SpareRoom reported record numbers of people signing up to search for a room on its website, an increase of 9% on the previous highest month (July 2019). Its research also found that there’s been a drop in supply of rental properties but demand is at an all-time high.

“They gave me a 10pm curfew, written into the contract”: inside the weird world of house-share interviews